


Mutual Grief

by PowerInStories



Series: The Auror and the Baker [1]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Deleted Scenes, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Lost Love, Sister-Sister Relationship, croissant scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 14:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20027263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerInStories/pseuds/PowerInStories
Summary: My version of the croissant scene focusing heavily on Tina and Jacob and their shared grief.





	Mutual Grief

He and Tina had naturally filed in to stand next to each other by the fountain. Neither of them said why aloud, but the reason seemed to be known, yet unspoken between them: No one else here understood just how badly they missed Queenie.

"What—How—I?" Tina looked more heartbroken than that Spellbound article had ever made her and as much as Jacob did not want to talk, Tina deserved the truth, so he spoke. 

His voice was scratchy when he finished telling Tina how he and Queenie had came to be in Paris. The rough stone from the fountain in the Concord was digging into his back but he hardly cared. What was a little discomfort? He swallowed as Tina spoke. 

“Sweet Mercy Lewis. Fuck.” Tina sighed. Jacob recoiled slightly and almost fell back into the fountain. He had never heard Tina swear before in the seven months he had known her. Tina steadied him, grabbing his arm. Her grip was too tight, like he might vanish and her hands were quickly turning the same white as sugar. He knew her well enough to know a version of “I can’t have him falling into the fountain and cracking his head open” was going through her brain right now, even if he couldn’t read minds like—Oh God, like—He pushed that thought away. 

“Mercy Lewis, don’t fall into the fountain!” Tina said, proving Jacob’s theory right. She released the arm she had been gripping so hard that her knuckles had turned white. The milky paleness slowly faded now that she wasn’t holding onto him. “I was just shocked—I didn’t raise her to think think she could _kidnap_ someone—Mercy Lewis, how depressed is she to see that as a viable solution? Well—anyway, it’s my fault.” Her eyes flashed with pain and guilt. 

“Hey, Tina! Tina!” Jacob said. He couldn’t have her being upset. He couldn’t stand the look on her face that reminded him of her telling him that Newt was engaged to Leta Lestrange. He needed to comfort her now, just as he had then. “Look, it isn’t your fault, okay? Queenie just needs time to calm down. Maybe time away from New York and MACUSA, away from us—” That hurt like a bullet to the head “—is what she needs. Time to miss us. It’ll work out. We’ll get her back and we’ll all be happy again, like it should be.” 

He wanted to believe this, but she had been so unreachable at the rally? He knew he would spend whatever was left of his life trying to save her, but the question still pounded in his brain: How could the world go on with Queenie with _ Grindelwald_? What if he brainwashed her to the point where she could never be saved?

Jacob already ached for her, a longing that would never be filled until she was by his side again. She warmed his life much like the heat of the sun on a bright day. Without that bright light, life would be dim and dark and scary, like a New York street at night with no lit lamp-posts. 

What he didn’t say to Tina, what he was thinking as he stared blankly past the Concord to the buildings beyond, was that it was _ his _ fault. He had called her crazy. Why hadn’t he given her a hug instead, and promised her she didn’t have to go back to New York if she didn’t want to?

“It’s not your fault, either,” Tina said, who must have recognized the pain in his own face. “Her problems are bigger than what you can fix with a pastry and a hug.” She tried to swallow but it seemed to get stuck in her throat. “Anyway, what I said last year? About how we don’t keep them, no-majs? Well—it’s clear now I was too unyielding, too overprotective. Queenie could search the whole world and she’ll never find anyone as perfect for her as you. You—You can stay. When we inevitably have to go back—leave MACUSA to me.” 

Tears swelled in Jacob’s eyes faster than milk hitting a mixing bowl. All of the Concord seemed to be a swirly grey mass. He heard Flamel offering croissants and there was a pause as he and Tina both shook their heads. How could he eat right now? They would probably taste like ash, anyway, he still found himself spitting the stuff out. At any rate, he could never appreciate it right now, would never be able to eat them with the observation of a baker at work, so why bother? It wasn't like Queenie would be here to help him figure out what was in them, anyway. 

He glanced back to Tina as Flamel offered some to Nagini and Kama. Jacob still had a lump in his throat as he digested her words. _You can stay._ He had always had the admiration of a soldier for Tina—her desire to do what was right, no matter how unpopular it made her; her fierce protection of others, no matter the danger. He’d always understand her objections to the relationship and had never bore her ill-will for it, but yet still, for a moment he was too choked up to reply. Tina’s support, _ at last _, meant the world to him. Finally, he managed to squeeze out. “Thank you, Tina…. It—It means a lot.”

A voice cut through the square like the thick knives he used to cut through stone-hard baguettes. 

“Oi! You two!” Mr. English Guy was calling. 

They looked around to see Newt, who was struggling with the niffler while his case rattled. The dead look in Theseus’ eyes told Jacob he wasn’t paying attention to his brother’s needs, wasn’t capable of it right now. He and Tina immediately hurried over and Jacob took the wiggling niffler from Newt, while Newt bent down to fumble with his case. 

“Thank you, Jacob. Our Papa niffler is excited because there is a bank across the road. Anyway, she’ll break that latch again, if I’m not careful,” Newt said as he stood up, brushing off more bits of dust and ash. Jacob knew “she” to mean the zouwu. He looked at Tina’s, whose eyes were still as watery as the fountain. Newt looked away as he smiled at her. “And we can’t have that, can we, Tina? My creatures getting loose again?”

Tina smiled slightly. 

“No—” her voice broke a little “—We can’t.” 

Their smiles at each other hit Jacob like a punch to the stomach. Should he smile? Cry because he wasn’t sure when he would share smiles with Queenie again, if ever? He wanted to help Tina out as well.

He walked over to her, and gave her the niffler, which still squirmed like an impatient child in the direction of the bank across the street. Jacob placed it in her arms as carefully as if it were his and Queenie’s firstborn child, before he moved away from her. 

“Here.” 

Tina looked up at him, looked down at the niffler, and smiled.


End file.
